1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a system and method of evaluating product attractiveness, and more particularly, to evaluating product attractiveness and risk by age brackets and product characteristics.
2. Background Description
Risk assessment is an important aspect in introducing new products to market. A manufacturer, distributor and/or retailer needs to understand the potential risks that introducing a product may entail. Risk assessment may also be used to ensure the quality of the products introduced and to avoid and/or minimize adverse customer and public relations.
Risk assessment may be used to avoid and/or minimize legal liability when introducing a product. For example, if a product is found to increase the risk of fire (e.g., an electric toaster with poor wiring), a manufacturer may elect not to introduce the item, or perhaps, choose to redesign it to reduce the particular risk. Alternatively, risk assessment performed on a device by a manufacturer may demonstrate the manufacture's care in designing the device if any problems later develop. For example, the risk assessment may be entered as evidence in a court proceeding where the manufacturer's duty of care is at issue.
In the case of toys, as another example, risk assessment is important when introducing new toys to market. However, there is currently little in the way of standardized quantification of factors surrounding risk in toys and no objective risk assessment that occurs in a systematic fashion. Current systems to evaluate risk tend to be performed on a toy-by-toy basis with no criteria for assessing toys overall. When toys are evaluated, the risk assessment typically utilizes a piecemeal approach, for example, choking only, or burning only, etc. There is no systematic approach to categorizing an overall approach for unifying and comparing all, or even a substantially large number of factors.
Products are currently tracked by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). NEISS provides a product coding system (typically a four-digit code) for a wide variety of products ranging from drugs, appliances, to toys, etc. However, the NEISS system typically only tracks injuries and complaints associated with products, but does not provide a risk assessment system for general use for evaluating these products during design, manufacturing or as a tool for a potential purchaser of the product to gain risk information.
Even when current methods of assessing risk are employed, the results are often interpreted differently by different people, perhaps reaching conflicting opinions regarding risk levels and/or severity of the risk levels. As such, no global assessment mechanisms exist using standard evaluation techniques that provide an overall value for a product based on the underlying intrinsic risk factors of the product.